Pingbacks are so helpful if you’re a blogger of any kind. I manage the blog for a family member who’s an author, and the huge a blog to share thoughts with the readers of their books. Pingbacks let’s them see where their blog posts are being discussed, go answer questions, and interact with the community in a really personal way (on top of the comment systems that are also used extensively).

It might’ve lost popularity over the years but it amazed me that there’s still entire micro-communities of authors/fans doing this. Their own little social networks, all self hosted and self managed through blogs and comments/Pingbacks.